Dominik Szoboszlai rewarded as Liverpool beat Nottingham Forest
Liverpool made it back-to-back Premier League triumphs with a straightforward 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest this afternoon.
Jurgen Klopp’s men had recently gone two without a win but have now returned to successful ways leaving them in third place after 10 matches played.
Steven Cooper’s side held out until the half-hour mark before the Reds broke the dam. Diogo Jota breached Matt Turner’s goal before Darwin Núñez doubled their lead moments later.
The latter’s effort was poignant as it was from a Dominik Szoboszlai assist, his first in England’s top division since joining the 19-time English champions this summer. And like busses in London, a second followed when Mohamed Salah rounded off the scoring minutes from the end.
Heading into this latest round of fixtures the Hungarian midfielder had produced no fewer than 21 chances for Liverpool in the league, albeit two of those were big chances, but with nothing to show for it.
Even so, his work ethic has been praised by supporters and manager Klopp, who after their 3-1 win over Bournemouth commented: “[I liked] what everybody saw: his energy combined with technique [and] desire. He has pretty much all the attributes you want to see – and the last thing you would think when you see him playing is he is only 22, so there is a lot more to come when he settles in properly.”
Szoboszlai raised expectations when handed the number eight jersey, previously worn by legendary skipper Steven Gerrard, and there have been compressions which he’s welcomed to an extent. “I want to do my own way but of course it feels good if they say I am the new Steven Gerrard,” he told the PA news agency earlier this week.
Full focus from Szobo 🇭🇺#LIVNFO pic.twitter.com/4rVIB9WBjO
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 29, 2023
“I have a tattoo from Steven Gerrard what he said a long time ago,” he added. The quote attributed to Gerrard, which Szoboszlai has inked in Hungarian, is ‘Talent is a blessing from God, but without incredible will and humility, it is worthless’.
Though he’s not the goalscoring midfielder Liverpool has been crying out for Szoboszlai nevertheless sees the bigger picture.
“If I have to score I am going to score. If I have to assist I am going to assist. If I have to run all around the pitch I will run all around the pitch,” he said. “I am here to help the team, I am not here to reach something alone. I want to win trophies, I want to win everything and make us proud and make the fans proud and put Liverpool back again where they deserve to be.
“I can improve in everything. I am not a finished player. Of course I can do everything almost but always you can be better and always you have to think like this. If you think this is your best prime, it is not. I can do even better. If I would come with any worries then it would not go like this. I came here like ‘I can do it’ – and I am doing it.
“But I don’t say ‘I did it’ because I didn’t. It’s really early to say that. I’m doing it and hopefully I can do it even more and for longer.”
